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Casey Carroll finds path to production
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BIG NIGHT: Canfield's Casey Carroll releases a shot over the head of a Boardman defender Ken Johnson during Tuesday's game in Canfield. The Cardinal junior had a career-high 28 points in Canfield's 72-53 win over the Spartans.
By Tom Williams
His career-high, 28-point contribution helped Canfield beat Boardman, 72-53.
CANFIELD — Perhaps because he was about to play against friends J.T. Moore and Chase Hammond, Canfield junior Casey Carroll felt “real nervous” before Tuesday’s basketball game against Boardman.
His nerves fluttered away not long after the tipoff as the Cardinals and Spartans went toe-to-toe, with the game close for about 13 minutes.
Carroll’s second-quarter spurt (six baskets, five rebounds) helped Canfield surge to a 32-23 halftime lead on the way to a 72-53 victory at Canfield High.
Carroll finished with a career-high 28 points while classmate Mike Podolsky contributed 19 in the Cards’ best win of the season.
“It just clicked right off the bat,” said Carroll who scored 12 points in the second half. “Once I started going inside, I was feeling [confident].”
Canfield coach John Cullen said Carroll succeeded because “he stayed within himself with the things he can do [well].
“Guys did a really good job of finding him at the end of the press and he finished strong,” Cullen said. “He didn’t try to do anything cute, he just took it up there like you are supposed to.”
Podolsky said, “Casey really stood up. This was one of the first games where he understood that he had to be [strong] inside. I was surprised, considering how big J.T. is that he was able to work inside. He opened up shots for everyone else.”
Cullen pointed out that the Cardinals got a break because the Spartans were without one of their best players, Ryan Pesta (sprained ankle, day-to-day).
“We knew we had to stop J.T. to win and it made it a little bit easier when you didn’t have to worry about Pesta,” Cullen said. “He’s one of the best 3-point shooters [in the Mahoning Valley] and that took a lot of wind out of their sails.”
Boardman coach Jim Goske didn’t use Pesta’s absence as an excuse.
“We obviously were going to miss him but we were looking for other guys to step up,” Goske said. “Injuries hit every team at every level. We didn’t respond real well to it tonight.”
Moore’s putback basket midway through the second quarter cut the Cards’ lead to 22-20. Carroll immediately answered by scoring on a drive inside. The half ended with Podolsky and Eli Lamberson hitting 3-pointers for a nine-point edge.
“We had a couple of spurts where we played quite well,” Goske said. “Canfield played very well tonight, they took it to us in every aspect of the game.”
Of Podolsky, Cullen said, “He’s so active that you are not always aware that he’s [scoring]. With Mike, you look up sometimes and say how did he get to 20?
“He’s better without the ball than he is with the ball. He’s able to create more looks for himself than Casey usually is. Tonight, Casey was pretty active without the ball.”
Podolsky admitted he was caught offguard by his totals.
“I went to the free-throw line, looked up [at the scoreboard] and saw 12,” Podolsky said. “I was like, “Wow, that was kind of quiet.’
Podolsky was pleased with how the Cards (5-3) played in the second half.
“The last couple of games, the third quarters have killed us,” Podolsky said. “Eli did a great job of coming up against that trap and delivering the ball in the middle for some easy layups.”
Jordan Karzmer led the Spartans (2-7) with 14 points. Moore scored 11 points and pulled down as many rebounds.
“That’s probably the hardest we’ve played for four quarters,” Cullen said. “We made a lot of mistakes but we pretty much stayed within our defensive gameplan.
“We made the press a little more than they wanted to. They are big and it would be really hard to get good shots if they were able to sit back.”
williams@vindy.com